


The Littlest Angel

by Ava_Dakedavra



Series: Lullaby Babies [1]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Custom MC, F/M, Family, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mimi Chere-Si, Zinnia Ryu, does not take away from the plot at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 07:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9169459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_Dakedavra/pseuds/Ava_Dakedavra
Summary: Zen and Mimi find themselves welcoming a little bundle of joy, except that it's very little and...they get a bit worried.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Mimi is the name of my custom MC. Depending on her relationship with one of the RFA members, her hair color changes. With Zen, it's a pale pink. This is mainly to differentiate what sort of universe they're in (such as 707-centric or Zen-centric or what have you) and, also, I like funky hair colors.

Mimi sunk lower into the couch, laptop perched on her stomach and phone cradled nicely between her boobs, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to plow through all of the e-mails she was getting. As Zen’s manager, she received countless amounts of emails daily, from potential job offers ( _Thank you for your consideration, I will pass the information along to Zen and you shall hear a reply within a week!)_ to less than desirable potential job offers ( _We’re sorry to inform you that Zen is not interested in acting in your “genre” of “film.” Please look elsewhere.)_ to fan e-mails ( _He’s mi- he’s tak- back o- Zen and I appreciate how much you care for him and his endeavors._ ) But, now that it was time for another R.F.A party, she was swamped. ( _Yes, we’ll be happy to have you again! We even requested the venue to make space for your oil truck this year! By the way, your English has improved greatly!)_ ( _No, ma’am, I’m afraid I am unfamiliar with that form of weaving, but I would be more than happy to have a lengthy discussion with you about it at the party!) (Due to the allergies of one of the hosts, I’m afraid that cats will be unable to attend. But, by all means, please bring pictures! Many of the hosts adore cats!_ )

 

“Babe,” Zen insisted, standing in between her and the coffee table as she sprawled along the couch, “Please, take a break. You’ve been glued to that thing since we got home.”

 

She hummed, not about to tell him that she’d been glued to it while they were on set too, and instead replied with, “Nah.”

 

“Staring at a screen all day is not healthy, just look at Seven and Yoosung as proof,” he tried to reason.

 

“It’s fine, I’m almost done with this batch, I just need to catch up,” she insisted as he sighed and took the phone from off of her chest.

 

“I heard that putting your phone anywhere near your chest can cause breast cancer,” he frowned.

 

“It’s fine,” she shrugged.

 

He unplugged the charger from the laptop. “You could trip over this.”

  
She glanced at her battery percentage and gave a smug smile when she saw it was still at 100%. She could go on for three more hours before hunting down the chord.

 

He slammed the laptop shut and she gave an indignant yell as he took it and put it right on top of the bookshelf. The very one that she could never reach.

 

“Zen! I was in the middle of e-mailing a very important guest and you just shut it on my fingers and – and – ow…” she trailed off, wincing and clutching at the pain as he softened and sat down next to her, taking her fingers and kissing them.

 

“I’m sorry, my love, but you hadn’t moved for hours,” he insisted before placing his hand over hers on her rounded stomach, smoothing his thumb back and forth and making the pain go away. “It’s not safe for the baby.”

 

Mimi sighed, nodding in understanding and leaning her head against his shoulder. Ever since she’d told him eight months ago that she was pregnant, he had gotten obsessed with making sure that she and the baby were absolutely healthy. She’d dealt with the insistences of a healthy diet, regular vitamins, and had talked him out of bi-weekly doctor’s visits. He’d calmed down moderately, especially after she requested him to go to Seven’s and get some Honey Buddha chips. He’d attempted to refuse and she’d cried and he’d spent two hours at Seven’s just trying to get in, take a few bags, and put up with Seven laughing at him the entire time.

 

“It’s just that all of the e-mails have piled up since we’ve been taking more doctor’s visits,” she said, shoulders slumping. “I’m trying to get them all out of the way in time for the party and the baby.”

  
“The party is in a week, and if somebody wants to come they need to make up their mind or get over it,” he insisted, taking his hands and rubbing her back now. “The baby is in a month.” He kissed a shoulder. “By the time the party is here, all e-mails can take a back seat until after the baby is born.”

 

She sighed, wondering how she was going to pull everything off, and Zen kept rubbing.

 

“Today was my last day on set,” he said, causing her to whirl around and gape at him.

 

“What?! Why did nobody say anything to me? Why the hell? Did you get fired? Did they fire you?”

 

He laughed, shaking his head and kissing her cheek, “No, no, babe. I doubled up scenes and powered through while you weren’t looking and got everything shot. I’m going to help you with work, and once the e-mails are all taken care of, then we’re both going to focus on getting ready for the baby.” He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing gently, “You’re not going to have to get through this alone.”

 

Mimi slumped against him, breathing a deep sigh of relief and rubbing her hands over his arms. She smiled, listening to his heartbeat before he began to hum, smoothing his palms over her stomach and letting her shirt ride up so that he could rub at the skin. He was quickly lulling her to sleep, up until he made a noise of surprise that accompanied a sharp pain in her stomach.

 

“The baby kicked,” he murmured in awe.

 

“Yeah, he knew I was falling asleep,” she mumbled grumpily.

 

“Aww, I think she just got excited,” he said with a grin, “It’s not often we can get you to relax nowadays.”

 

She snorted, nuzzling into his embrace even more. “Who’s fault is that anyways?”

 

“Ours,” he responded cheekily, kissing the top of her head. “I made bindaetteok for you.”

 

“Can I marry you all over again?” she asked making him laugh and hug her again.

 

“I would love that, my angel,” he said, pausing for a few extra seconds to nuzzle her again. “Come on. Up. Time to eat.”

* * *

 

Mimi stood proudly at the center of the party, phone safely hidden away in Zen’s pocket as she took a blessed leave from the thing. Things had gone wonderfully, the party was in full swing, and – as far as she was concerned and she dared anybody to tell her otherwise – it was better than any of Rika’s.

 

So many of the guests had come up to congratulate her on the pregnancy, either wanting to do so in person from when they heard about it, or being pleasantly surprised to see her with the rounded belly.

 

She took a deep breath and rubbed at the spot on her stomach that would not stop hurting, and shifting on her poor ankles. She hated coming all dressed up and forced to wear the same flats she wore to work, but she just knew that heels would kill her.

 

She turned to try to see where Zen was when she shifted and felt something…wet.

 

No. Nonononononononononononon NO.

 

Looking down, she grew horrified as she noticed the darker patch of carpet where she had been standing. Trying not to panic, she turned to try to find any of the RFA, or Zen – who was nowhere to be found right now – and bumped into someone.

  
“V!” she gave a sigh of relief as he dusted himself off.

 

“Sorry, sorry, must have missed you with my cane,” he apologized before she latched onto his arm.

 

“V, I need help,” she insisted quietly.

 

“What kind of help? What’s wrong?” he asked.

 

“I need – aahh,” she gripped his arm tightly, making him hiss as she tried not to scream out in pain as the contraction started. She clung on for a few more moments, V holding on to her and steadying her, before it passed. “I need Zen. I need someone to find Zen.”

 

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

 

“Do _not_ ruin this party, okay, I don’t need this party to be ruined right now,” she insisted, “But…my water broke.”

  
“Your water bro-… _oh my god_.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“ _Oh my god okay uhm…don’t panic._ ”

 

“I’m not panicking.”

 

“That’s good, that’s good, ahh – Jumin!” he turned his head this way and that, as if he could look for him. “Where’s Jumin?”

 

She turned, tugging on V’s sleeve to start on the direction for him. “Over there, talking to the Director of PATS.”

  
“Okay, okay, just wait here, don’t go anywhere.” As quickly as possible, he hurried over to Jumin, whispering in his ear before the two excused themselves from the PATS Director and made their way to her.

 

“You’re in labor?” Jumin hissed under his breath.

  
“Yes!” she hissed back.

 

“You can’t be!”

 

“Fucking try me right now!”

 

“Mimi, shh!” V insisted before punching Jumin deftly on the shoulder. “Jumin, please, go find Zen. I’ll stay here with Mimi.”

 

Jumin nodded, resettling his suit jacket before departing from them.

 

“How long has it been going on?” V asked, rather suddenly.

 

“Uhm, not too long,” she said.

  
“Was that your first contraction, the one you had with me?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” she answered, watching as V pulled out his phone and pulled it up to his ear as if he were on the phone.

 

“Soro, please start a stopwatch.” The phone gave a barely audible beep, and he nodded as he lowered his phone. “We need to keep track of how far apart your contractions are, you know.”

 

Mimi sighed as she saw Jumin coming back, but frowned when she saw that, instead of Zen, Yoosung and Seven were following him.

  
“We can’t find Zen,” Jumin stated.

  
“I can see that,” she clipped back.

 

“Are you really in labor?” Yoosung asked excitedly.

 

“Oh, happy day! The lovebirds are bringing their egg into the nest,” Seven sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and making them sway.

 

“Would the egg be hatching?” Yoosung questioned.

 

“Hmm, good point.”

 

“Can we not do this right now and can someone please _go find Zen_ ,” Mimi insisted through gritted teeth.

 

“Is something the matter?” Jaehee asked as she joined, clipboard in hand with neat little checks saying that all of the guests had attended. “Why are we all huddled together in the middle of the floor?”

 

“Mimi’s in labor,” V explained, Seven and Yoosung giving happy little cheers.

 

Jaehee gaped before seeming to restart. “Where’s your phone?”

 

“With Zen.”

 

With a long suffering sigh, Jaehee pulled out her own phone and began dialing, holding it out to Mimi who took it so Jaehee could give the other men a lecture on using their brains.

  
“Jaehee? Hello?” Zen’s voice filtered through, and Mimi gave a sigh of relief.

 

“Zen,” she said, “I need you to come and find me, where are you?”

 

“I’m helping the stagehands, the band is about to go up on stage,” he said, shuffling and moving something as another person mumbled nearby. “Why? Can’t it wait?”

  
“ _No it cannot wait_ ,” she hissed, trying to cover the mouthpiece and keep her voice from travelling to the other guests.

 

“Is something wrong?” he asked, voice dropping to a whisper.

 

“My water broke.”

 

Mimi was horrified to find that her simple statement, meant to be only for her husband, was suddenly echoed across the venue hall. She froze as all of the guests turned to look at her, the only pregnant woman there, and gaped as the RFA members behind her froze.

 

“It _what?_ ” Zen’s voice filtered through both the phone and the venue.

 

“Just…” she squeaked, “Just please come out here.”

 

Zen hung up, and there were muffled exclamations on the microphone, before he slipped out of the side of the curtain and hurried down the steps, making his way to her as the guests, to her horror, began to _clap_.

 

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked, hand to her stomach as Jaehee regained her phone and began to call someone else.

 

“Yes, I’m feeling fine for right now, other than mortified,” Mimi insisted before Jaehee turned to them.

 

“The valet has the car waiting, and one of us will meet you at the hospital with your overnight bag as well as a change of clothes for you, Zen,” she said. “The rest of us will maintain the party, and continue giving you updates throughout the night.”

 

“I’ll come with,” V insisted, Zen and Mimi looking at each other in surprise before brushing it off.

 

“Congratulations!” Yoosung cheered as they began to depart, Seven whooping and hollering as Jumin golf-clapped alongside the guests. Only Jaehee would be spared after this was over.

 

They hurried to the hospital, V wanting to come along to time the contractions, and he had stated, once they were in the room and situated, that it looked like she would have a long labor ahead of her, as the contractions were few and far between.

 

As it turns out, once the party was over, everyone decided to come and sit with them. Yoosung didn’t even bother dressing out of his formal wear, he was so excited. Mimi sighed, but smiled and thanked him for bringing clothes for Zen as well as her overnight bag. Soon after, Jaehee and Jumin attended, Jaehee dressed down in jeans and a simple sweater and Jumin…well, being Jumin. Seven was the last to arrive, whistling as he placed a clumsily wrapped present behind the door before presenting Mimi with a bag of Honey Buddha Chips.

 

“She can’t eat those,” Zen argued, tugging his hair out of the collar of his shirt as he stepped out of the bathroom, glaring at Seven.

 

“What? Why? Don’t go and tell me it’s another ‘they’re not healthy’ reason,” Seven insisted with a pout.

 

“No, the doctors said I can’t eat anything until after the baby is born,” Mimi answered for him, Zen smiling and pecking her brow before perching on the side of the bed next to her.

 

Seven shrugged, placing them on the nightstand by the window and Yoosung, “For later, then.”

 

“What’s in the present?” Yoosung asked, sprawled in the floor without a care to the state of his clothes.

 

“It’s a surprise for my new little…godchild,” Seven said with a sly grin. As soon as they’d come back from their appointment and declined to learn about the sex of the baby, Seven had texted them and gone back and forth on if it was a boy or girl. Zen had insisted he was bluffing until he’d sent a clearer than clear picture of the ultrasound straight from the doctor’s computers with the simple message ‘lol try me.’ Mimi had threatened bodily harm if he told anybody, including them, and so it had remained his own little secret.

 

“Oh!” Jaehee suddenly fretted, “We didn’t have the baby shower for you!”

 

“I haven’t even gotten them a gift yet,” Jumin noted with surprise.

 

“We haven’t even set up the crib,” Zen groaned, wincing as he leaned his head against Mimi’s. “Or anything, really. We were waiting until after the party.”

 

“Hey,” Yoosung spoke up, softly, looking worriedly at the parents to be, “Is the baby going to be okay? It was due next month.”

 

Mimi clutched tightly at the sheets surrounding her belly, staring up at Zen as he turned to her as well.

 

“Whatever happens,” Jumin said, hands clasped behind his back, “Know that funds are…always available to you. Should you ever find yourself in the need of them.”

 

Zen blinked, mouth set in a grim line before he nodded back at Jumin, “Thank you.”

 

Mimi hissed and clutched at Zen as another contraction rippled through her, V timing it alongside the others until it subsided. “That one was a minute sooner.”

 

“Out of how many minutes?” she panted, collapsing against the pillows behind her as Zen stroked her hair.

 

“Sixty-seven,” he answered, smiling as she groaned again.

 

It was a long wait, but everyone stuck through it. After hours upon hours, Mimi and Zen finally disappeared into the delivery room. When they returned a few hours later, Mimi was only barely awake and Zen was carrying in a tiny bundle.

 

“It’s a girl,” Zen whispered, depositing the baby into Mimi’s waiting arms, watching as she cradled her lovingly. Everyone crowded around to look, V standing back with a small smile.

 

“What’s her name?” Jaehee asked tentatively.

 

“Zinnia,” Mimi answered with a grin, Jumin’s upper lip curdling in distaste before V smacked him in the back with his cane. “Zinnia Ryu.”

 

“She’s beautiful,” Yoosung stated first, looking in at the baby’s sleeping face the easiest. “So cute and chubby~!”

 

“Chubby babies are the best,” Seven insisted.

 

Zen inhaled sharply before letting it out in a deep sigh, perching on the edge of Mimi’s bed and draping a long arm around the two of them. She sighed and leaned into him, tired as he took to running his hands through her hair.

 

“Alright, let’s give them some time alone and let them rest,” V insisted, Yoosung nodding before holding his hand out to Zen.

 

“Keys, please!” he chirped as quietly as possible, Zen looking back at him in confusion.

 

“We’re going to go to your apartment and set things up for the baby before you come home,” Jumin answered.

 

“You guys don’t have to do that, we can handle it when we – ” Zen began, Mimi nodding alongside him before Jaehee cut him off.

 

“You two are too exhausted to even think about it right now, allow us to set things up,” she said simply.

 

“You don’t even know what we want in the nursery,” Mimi mumbled sleepily.

 

“Yes we do,” Seven chirped, “I hacked into your Punterest account. You have three nursery boards, one for a boy, one for a girl, and one that’s gender neutral. It’s easy to tell what theme you wanted.”

 

“You asshat, those were private boards,” she hissed, Zen chuckling as he handed over his keys.

 

“Yoosung is in charge of the keys, don’t let anybody else but Jaehee touch those,” he stated as the blonde boy beamed.

 

“Yes, sir!” he said, mock saluting before following everyone else out as they wished them well.

 

Once everyone was gone and Mimi had scooted over enough, the two laid down together with Zinnia cradled between them, all three sound asleep.

* * *

 

“Who’s a pretty girl~? Who’s daddy’s pretty girl~?”

 

Mimi chuckled to herself as she sent the last e-mail, stretching with a soft groan before getting up from the kitchen table and side-stepping the high chair. She made her way out to the living room, popping out the kinks in her back as she looked on at her tiny family fondly.

 

Zen was laying in the floor, brilliant white hair splayed out around him like an angelic halo, lifting Zinnia high up into the air as the little girl giggled and gummed at her fingers, smiling down at him as her own little white curls framed her face.

 

Mimi moved to lay down next to him, wrapping a leg around him like she did when they slept and tucking her head over his heart, and Zen turned his brilliant smile over onto her.

 

“Well, there’s one of my pretty girls,” he said, kissing the top of her head as he brought Zinnia in for a landing. “How’re you?”

 

“Better now,” she said, smiling as Zinnia began to pat through her hair, like she’d seen Zen do. She was only barely a year old, and yet was still so tiny. Mimi wondered if the premature labor was the cause of that, or if it was truly because she was tiny. She grinned wider as the little girl slid across Zen’s chest and over to her, cooing to herself as she nuzzled into her chest for some cuddles. Mimi relaxed further, soon finding herself drifting off to sleep as Zen rubbed her back and played with her hair.

 

“My two girls,” he murmured, watching the both of them sleep for a few moments longer before he stood and took Zinnia to bed, marveling at how the little girl stayed asleep and never even stirred.

 

Mimi was still passed out in the floor once Zinnia was tucked in, and Zen laughed to himself as he picked her up and cradled her into his chest for a few moments before walking to their bedroom. He hissed as her foot caught on to a vase of flowers, the whole thing crashing down to the floor and waking Mimi up with a start.

 

“Wha-what? Shit, what?” she asked as Zen froze, wincing as he stood, barefoot, surrounded by shards of glass. “Zen?”

 

“I was carrying you to bed and accidentally hit the vase,” he answered, hoisting her up further.

 

Mimi looked down, wincing when she saw he was barefoot, and wiggled to make him put her down. He seemed reluctant but he relented, as she was the only one with shoes on.

 

Mimi bustled about picking up the glass and throwing it away, instructing Zen on how far he should step to get out of the war path. It was nearly twenty minutes into cleaning before she stopped and listened.

 

“Did Zinnia cry at all when the vase broke?” she asked, and Zen froze when he found that he honestly couldn’t remember.

 

The two dropped their task, rushing into her nursery to find her sound asleep, having slept through the whole thing. Rather than finding her fears for nothing, Mimi instead worried her bottom lip.

 

“What are you thinking?” Zen asked in a hushed voice as she moved further into the room, standing right by the crib.

 

“Have…have you ever heard her cry?” she asked, turning to him worriedly, “Like from a noise? Do you ever remember her responding to a noise?” At that moment, she snapped her fingers, right by Zinnia’s head, but she kept sleeping soundly. Mimi tried again, and again, growing more frantic as she reached over the rails of the crib and snapped, snapped, snapped right by her ears. “Zen? Zen, I can’t remember.”

  
“I – I can’t either,” he said, coming to stand by her side and forcing her arms down. “I…we can go to a doctor in the morning. I’ll text Jumin and see if he knows any.” He turned to her, holding her close when he saw the worried tears streaking silently down her face. “Hey, hey. She’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay.”

* * *

 

 **Zen:** _the doctors are saying that she was born deaf_

**Zen:** _we never knew_

**Zen:** _I feel awful_

**Zen:** _we should have known_

**Jaehee Kang:** _That’s not your fault, and it’s not Mimi’s either. How could you have known?_

**Jumin Han:** _Do they have any solutions?_

**707:** _Does she notice? Like, does it impact her life at all?_

 **Zen:** _No, she’s the happiest baby in the world. Doesn’t have a clue._

**707:** _Then, I mean…it’ll be okay. That’s just who she is then. U guys just need to learn to adapt to her world._

**Yoosung:** _Seven’s right, but…_

**Yoosung:** _How is she doing?_

**707:** _Zinnia or Mimi?_

**Yoosung:** _Mimi_

**Yoosung:** _I can only imagine how she must be feeling right now…_

**Zen:** _she hasn’t spoken a word since the doctors told us_

**Zen:** _I can’t tell what she’s thinking_

**Zen:** _I don’t even trust myself to talk to her right now_

**Jaehee Kang:** _Please, go talk to her, Zen. She needs you just as much as you need her right now._

**Zen:** _what if…_

**Zen:** _what if she’s mad at me?_

**Jumin Han:** _Why would Mimi be mad at you? It’s not as if it’s your fault._

**707:** _Ya. She’s probably scared ur mad at her_

**Yoosung:** _If I’d carried a baby for 8/9 months, thought she was 100% healthy only to find out otherwise a year later…_

**Zen:** _I need to talk to her._

**_Zen has logged out from the chatroom_ **

 

“It’s okay,” Zen murmured again, but she didn’t believe him. Her own daughter, and she had no idea. Had never even considered anything to be wrong with her. If she had sooner, would they have been able to do something? At the very least, able to start learning sign language and other skills to help her, so they’d be competent by the time she was able to start learning.

 

“Hey, look at me, not your phone,” Zen insisted, tugging the device out of her hands and nudging her chin up. “It’s okay. She’s okay. It’s not – it’s not anything bad.”

 

Mimi found her face scrunching up as the tears started pouring, sobs ripping out from her throat as she clung to him, letting him grip onto her tightly as if to hold her together a little while longer. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I didn’t know.”

 

“I didn’t either, and it’s okay,” he pleaded, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, “She’s still healthy. It’s just…she just can’t hear. And it’s okay.”

 

“She’s never heard our voices,” she whispered, “She’s never heard us tell her how much we love her, o-or when we say goodnight. She’s never heard her lullaby, Zen.”

 

Zen felt his own throat closing up as tears began to well up, and he tried blinking them away. Every night, ever since she was born, Zen would sing her to sleep, no matter what time of night or if he did it every time she woke up and was irritable. To think that she never heard any of it, never heard any of the moments he shared with her….

  
Zinnia began to cry, and Mimi and Zen both looked at each other in surprise, tears streaming down their faces before Zen stood and went into her room.

 

She was standing up at the crib, face scrunched up in frustration as she tugged at her crib and wailed.

 

“Hey, hey, no need for that,” he insisted in the most soothing tone he could muster, prying her chubby fingers off of the bars and hoisting her up into his chest. He paused as she continued to wail before bringing her into their bedroom, where Mimi had reclaimed her phone and was sniffling as she wiped away her tears.

 

She blinked when Zen pressed Zinnia into her chest, pulling the phone away once again before he sat back behind her, wrapping the both of them close as Zinnia began to calm down, only to look blearily up at Mimi as she held her tight and began to cry, stroking through her hair as she sobbed. Zen pressed his head against her shoulder, his own chest heaving and shuddering, before Zinnia began pressing kisses against Mimi’s face and Zen’s shoulder.

* * *

 

“ _Food, please_ ,” Zinnia signed, rosy cheeked and smiling as she sat in her booster seat, kicking her feet as breakfast was being prepared around her.

 

“ _Soon, angel,”_ Zen signed as he spoke what he was saying, Mimi watching on with a fond smile before he turned and presented her with a plate and a kiss on her forehead. “And there’s food for my lovely angel, now to get the little angel squared away!”

 

Mimi cupped the bowl, feeling the warmth through the ceramic before she placed a few blueberries and bananas on the table in front of Zinnia.

 

She watched as he moved and cooked, looking on thoughtfully and wondering if Zen ever missed acting like he had been, in movies and shows and plays and musicals, and if he was content with being the face of Jumin’s brands, of doing commercials for charities and organizations. But when he turned to the two of them with the biggest, brightest smile on his face, she knew he didn’t care one bit. Besides, he was happy to do the commercials, happy to have her and Zinnia on set with him. Several producers were looking into doing their “story,” although some were looking at it as more of a drama. One, however, was considering them for a section in a documentary, and they were looking more and more promising the more emails they exchanged.

 

“ _Thank you, Papa,_ ” Zinnia sighed as Zen set her bowl of fruit before her, brushing her pretty long hair back behind her ears before he sat down himself and began to eat, pausing as he looked up and saw Mimi staring thoughtfully back at him.

 

“Are you falling in love with me again, babe?” he teased, leaning forward and reaching out for her hand, smiling wider when she reached out for his as well.

 

“More and more every day,” she replied, grinning when Zen flushed and melted.

 

“You can’t do that to my heart,” he sighed, kissing her fingertips before releasing her hand so they could both eat. “You’re too cute.”

 

Zinnia watched, eyebrows furrowed as she watched them talk before she tentatively signed, “ _Cute?_ ”

 

Mimi brightened, hands flying up at once, as she spoke and signed, “ _Yes! Cute! Great job, sweetheart!_ ”

 

Zinnia beamed, shoveling another spoonful of fruit into her mouth and kicking her feet gleefully.

 

“To be fair, it makes sense she read that word first,” Zen laughed, “We call her cute all of the time.”

 

“And she is,” Mimi agreed, standing up to clean up the space in front of Zinnia, kissing her on top of the head and listening to her give a pleased little hum. “Our perfect little girl.”

 

And, no matter what, she always would be.


End file.
